Egypt Courts to Hear Appeals of Jailed Female Protesters

Egyptian judges were to hear the appeals on Saturday of 21 women and teenage girls handed heavy jail terms on charges related to an Islamist protest in a case that sparked an outcry.

The 14 adult women were handed 11-year jail terms and the seven minors sentenced to juvenile detention last month, shocking even supporters of the military-installed government.

They were convicted of taking part in a violent protest demanding Islamist president Mohamed Morsi’s reinstatement following his overthrow by the army in July.

There was a heavy police presence outside the court complex in the coastal city of Alexandria, where Morsi’s Islamist supporters have repeatedly clashed with opponents and security forces, an AFP correspondent reported.

The women’s lawyer, Ahmed al-Hamrawy, told AFP he expected the misdemeanour courts to either acquit them or release them on bail ahead of a final ruling.

The jail sentences, coming in the same week as a restrictive new protest law, re-energised the Islamist opposition to the interim government and drew criticism even from its secular supporters.

Source: AFP